Hi all,

About two months ago, I replaced the worn stock Yaban chain on my Wabi with an almost new KMC 8.93 I had in the parts bin. Since then (maybe 200 miles of riding), I've heard a lot more noise from my drivetrain. The chainring and the cog (Wabi's dual 16/18) have less than 2000 miles on them and don't look worn. I've tried to make sure the wheel is centered in the dropouts, and I've loosened the chainring bolts and tapped the chainring with a mallet to try to get the chainring seated as well as possible before tightening the bolts back down. When I ran the Yaban chain (before it was worn and got noisy), the drivetrain was really quiet. I've been surprised that the KMC chain has added noise, but I wondered--is some of the noise possibly coming from the chain design's to be run on geared bikes?

As an experiment, I tried running a KMC 9.93 I had in the bin, and that was no quieter. One other twist. This morning, I noticed that the lock ring was loose--I could undo it with my fingers. After taking it off, greasing the threads, and tourqing it back down with a lockring spanner, I'm still hearing considerable noise. Chain slack is about 1/4 - 1/2" when running fixed. Chain recently cleaned and lubed again.

Any thoughts? I've heard some folks more and some less enthusiastic about KMC chains.

Thanks!

New chains are always noisy. Ride your bike.

As long as you listen for chain noise, you'll hear it.

As long as it doesn't speak or sound like a chainsaw then I don't care. A new chain on parts with some wear will make noise until things even out.

What brand cog are you using?

..

Right, i knew that

Thanks for the input, all. Maybe I am being fussy about the sound.

If it's just sound without any grinding or roughness while pedaling, then don't worry about it. Some of my drivetrains are real noisy, while others are whisper silent, despite all of them running smoothly with no drama.